"CROSSROADS"

As with all my “production notes,” consider a “Spoiler Warning” attached. Please read the books first.

As I got further into the first Knights of the Old Republic storyline and began to firm up more of my later plans for the series, I realized I had material for a prologue story to help new fans get their bearings in this timeframe. Focusing as it does on Zayne’s personal situation, the first issue touches on such things as the Mandalorian Wars only tangentially and the previous Sith War not at all. Even presented out of order, I figured, a prologue could fill in a few blanks without interrupting the forward motion of Zayne’s story for flashbacks.

I suggested to Dark Horse the possibility of doing such a prologue as some kind of promotional comic book. My initial thought had been the Free Comic Book Day issue, but with the day coming so far into the year, Editor Jeremy Barlow rightly suggested doing a 25-cent special much earlier. While it wouldn’t be a preview for Knights of the Old Republic, the other half could preview Rebellion — and the KOTOR side would be a welcome addition for fans excited by the just-launched series.

So we set to work, pausing between regular issues to get the special written and drawn. It was very much worth it, I think – thematically and visually, it is of a piece with the rest of the series.

It was actually a little later in the process that I suggested the addition of a Taris Holofeed, borrowing an idea and format from Star Wars Insider. Having written a lot of news copy in my day, it was an easy style to get into – and I very much appreciated the chance to get in some more subtext and jokes. (“…and Zayne Carrick, a human.” That’s so sad!)

It may seem ironic that this short story and its news page provided more hooks for the continuity fans than did the first two issues that had already appeared, combined. Again, that’s completely intentional on my part: I had said before that readers did not have to have played the video games or read the previous comics in this era to enjoy the series. This special provides those who have with a few more referents — even if there are still secrets I have yet to reveal to completely put everything in context.

TRIVIA 

• The actual title of this issue, from the indicia, is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Rebellion #0.

• The cover of this issue – the KOTOR side of it, anyway – is a recolored version of the sample image Brian Ching created for the 2005 Dark Horse presentation at Comic-Con International: San Diego. The colors are a little brighter in this print version.

• The “Cap’n Karath” mentioned is, right away, a reference that will be familiar to players of the first video game.

• The time signature – if that is what it is – on the Taris Holofeed stirred some discussion, but I can’t take credit for it so it’s not a discussion I can contribute much to. It should be fairly evident that any dating system that counts downward would be exclusively for the benefit of helping people in later years organize the past. I don’t think Alexander the Great was walking around wondering why the years kept counting down. (Or maybe he was, which is why he was in such a rush to conquer the world…)

• Yes, Marn Hierogryph is the Baron Hieromarn of the fleek eel story – obviously. Who else would want hard currency delivered to a hotel night desk clerk?